It’s called Fight Like a Girl, it was published by Zest Books, and it’s a little feminist history primer targeted at teens and young women (but hey, anyone can and should pick it up). It features 50 mini profiles of a bunch of feminist heroes of mine. You can buy it at all the usual places — Amazon, Powells, your local bookstore.

Metro just called it “the feminist history book everyone should read.” THAT MEANS YOU REALLY SHOULD READ IT, don’t you think? And then do me a favor and post a review on Amazon, k? That would make me incredibly happy.

Speaking of Amazon … As of today, it’s the #1 New Release in Teen and Young Adult Women Biographies! Check it out:

In other news … POPULAR, a book I wrote with Lauren Urasek, got optioned to become a TV sitcom in December, which was pretty much the highlight of my winter/year/life. You can read more about that in the Hollywood Reporter (I hope to God that isn’t the last time my name appears in the Hollywood Reporter, because it made me feel soooo fancy and important, ha).

Oh, forgive me — I know it’s been almost a year since I last posted here. (I enjoy pretending that people actually read this blog; it makes me feel special. But at least one or two of you actually DO check in on this thing from time to time, right?)

I have no good excuse except that I suck at blogging, and I refuse to sugar-coat that truth.

Another truth, though, is that my life has been in a bit of upheaval over the past year or so — OK, not a bit, actually a TON of upheaval. Two of my pets died within months of each other, which was obviously devastating for me. I’d had Joon (the kitty) since she was a kitten, and her illness came on unexpectedly and I had to put her to sleep after a week of torture. She was 16 and pretty much my baby, so it’s been quite hard adjusting to life without her. Three months before that, I had to put my dog Henny to sleep, which was also horrific. I’d only had Henny for six years, but she was my Very First Dog and was a very special girl.

In addition to those losses, I’ve had to move twice within the last 8 months, and I’ve been having some career ups, downs, and uncertainties, as well as feeling all the feelings and asking all the questions about my life goals, aims, and all-around LIFE’S PURPOSE. Blah blah blah, insert boring existential-angsty stuff here.

I’ve been continuing to write, though, as much as I’m able. Here are a few things I’ve worked on that you might want to check out.

*** I helped Lauren Urasek write her new book Popular: The Ups and Downs of Online Dating From the Most Popular Woman in New York City. It’s a fun, light-hearted book of essays about the pain, shame, splendor, squalor, and everything in between when it comes to Tinder, OkCupid, Hinge, and all that annoying modern romantic nonsense. YOU REALLY WANT TO BUY A COPY RIGHT HERE AND RIGHT NOW, I THINK.

*** I have another new book coming out in 2016! It’s a book about 50 awesome women who changed the world, and it’s aimed primarily at younger women, but EVERYONE CAN AND SHOULD ENJOY IT. It’s called Fight Like a Girl, and you can pre-order it here.

*** Last November I wrote this very personal piece for the New York Times‘ Motherlode blog that I was quite happy with. It was my first NY Times byline, though I hope to eventually write more for them, obvs.

*** I published an essay in the print version of Marie Claire magazine back in August (you can read it online here). It was my first piece for them, and it felt like a nice milestone of sorts. Seeing my byline in a gorgeous glossy I’ve been reading on newsstands for years certainly hasn’t gotten old for me (probably because it hasn’t happened that many times yet!).

*** I still write for Refinery29 a bunch, though sadly not as much as I did last year (sh*t’s been busy). Check out some of my recent work over there.

…that hasn’t already been said exceptionally well by others. But yes, I too am heartbroken and utterly disheartened by the Ferguson decision that finally came down last night. Can’t stop stewing over it. Of course we all feared and suspected that this is the way it would turn out in the end, but I guess I naively held on to a tiny sliver of hope that some modicum of decency and humanity might win out, just this once.

Wrong wrong wrong. Again again again.

Also disturbed and saddened by Marissa Alexander’s plea deal — though of course I’m happy she’ll soon(ish) escape the prison she shouldn’t have been in in the first place, it seems profoundly unfair that she’ll be on probation for two years, that this unjust ordeal can’t be fully over for her yet. I understand why she took the deal, though, when facing down an impossibly vicious, incompetent prosecutor who seemed to want nothing more than to punish her, to the utmost extent possible, for a perfectly justifiable action Alexander was forced to take to protect herself against the husband who’d brutally abused her (and other women).

When will this shit stop? Again, am I naive for believing it could possibly end or even improve at any point in the foreseeable future? What are you doing to process all of this? michael kors tasche sale

Sorry for the long absence. Happy almost-February. Good things are happening over here. January has turned out to be an excellent month in terms of freelance assignments, and I think/hope it’s just a sign of the awesomeness to come in 2013. I’m working on some fun pieces for magazines I’ve always wanted to break into. Fingers crossed it’ll all go off without a hitch. Stay tuned for more details to come…

I’m also working on a proposal for a new book I want to write — I’m super-psyched about that prospective project, but want to keep mum on the details for now. Hopefully there will be news I can share around that, too, sometime in the not-too-distant future.

Other updates:

I’m moving back to NYC (Brooklyn, obvs) this spring! I left NY for SF back in 2005, and though I love the Bay Area, it’s just really really… FAR. I.e. far from my roots and my family & friends. I feel ready to be back on the East Coast again, at least for a while; who knows where I’ll end up in the long run.

I wrote a piece for Cosmopolitan magazine that was supposed to come out this month, but was held (sad-face) for a future issue. I’ll let you know when it comes out.